AN: Blame life and slight loss of enthousiasm in story. I will finish this if it kills me.

Once a Ranger
Chapter 16: Discussions
By Daylight

Billy gazed at his friends. Beside him, the green ranger was sighing as he rubbed his forehead in tired frustration. The silver ranger was leaning against the wall near the exit. He had his arms crossed and looked as if he was debating between chewing out Tommy and going after his best friend. The red zeo ranger sat in a chair by the Engineering console slumped forward with his head in his hands.

"Alright," commanded the former blue ranger. "Adam you go after Tanya. Zhane you go after Andros. I'll take care of Tommy."

Adam nodded giving Billy a grateful pat on the shoulder before he left. With one last glare at the red zeo ranger, Zhane followed leaving Billy and Tommy alone. Pulling up a chair, Billy sat down next to his friend who remained gazing at the ground. Unable to assess Tommy's current emotions, Billy decided it was best just to dive in and ask the question. "Are you really angry at Andros for what happened to Zordon?"

Tommy finally looked up but didn't look at his friend. "No. Yes. I don't know." He shook his head. "Consciously I know that Andros did the only thing he could in that situation, but it's hard not to see him as the murderer when he's the one that swung the sword."

"That's understandable."

"And it's so easy to get angry at Andros." The red ranger got up and started pacing. "He's stubborn, rash, hot-headed, always running off into danger."

Leaning back, Billy let a smile cross his features. "Maybe you too are a bit too alike."

Tommy turned to his friend. "I'm not hot-headed. Am I?"

Billy shrugged. "Maybe not so much anymore. But you're definitely stubborn. And you tend to blame yourself for everything just like Andros. He blames himself for the loss of his sister, his planet, his team, and Zordon. You guys seem to enjoy heaping responsibility on your shoulders."

"I guess I'd better apologize," Tommy replied with a grimace. "But I still feel so angry and I don't know why."

"Give yourself some time to calm down and think it over. You can try talking to Andros later."

The red ranger nodded.

"It's lucky Andros has changed over the past couple of years. The state he was in when I first met him…"

"Daddy?" called out a little voice interrupting the two rangers as a small figure appeared in the doorway.

"Celeste!" The blue ranger rushed over and scooped her into his arms. "What are you doing here? Isn't Uncle Cestro supposed to be watching you?"

"Wanted to see what's going on."

Tommy couldn't help grinning. "It seems your daughter has got your curiosity."

"That I can believe. She's always exploring, getting into things and disappearing. Such a handful to watch over." As he spoke, Celeste managed to wriggle out of his arms and make her way over to Tommy.

"Would you like a hug?" she asked arms reaching upward.

Laughing, the red ranger picked her up. "I always like hugs." He sat back down allowing her to sit on his lap. "I still can't believe she's yours. I never imagined…"

"Yeah, I never quite imagined having children so soon or having to bring one up alone."

"You're doing alright though. You manage."

"I manage. The other rangers help out when they can. But without Cestria…" Billy cut off still reluctant to talk about his deceased wife. "Still…" Grinning, he watched Celeste play with Tommy's hair. "It's worth it."

ooooo

Adam found Tanya gazing through a window at one of Aquitar's colourful underwater gardens. He took a moment to admire his girlfriend's beauty against the swaying plants outside before moving up beside her and placing an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him.

"Feeling better?"

She nodded. "I forgot how stressful life as a ranger can be. Almost makes the daily struggles of trying to get my career started pale in comparison."

"We'll get through this." He rubbed her shoulder. "And you'll soon be singing to millions. I know you will."

Tanya turned to look at him. "And you'll be there?"

Adam frowned. "Of course, I will."

She turned her gaze back to the window. "I just can't remember the last time we were able to spend so much time together."

"We've been busy. You've got singing and the café. I've got college and the dojo. We'll be able to spend more time together when things are more settled."

"As long as we don't end up like Tommy first. I don't know what would be worse if I suddenly get a letter from you saying you found someone else or if we suddenly catch up with one another and realize we simply don't feel the same way."

"Well, I'm not Tommy and you're not Kim or Kat. We'll get through this, too."

"Sure," she replied distantly, then sighing she rubbed her forehead. "Sorry, such silly trivial things to think about when our friends are in danger and whole universe could be coming to an end."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It's not silly. It's the trivial things that keep us grounded so we don't get washed away by all the darkness."

Tanya didn't answer only wrapped her arm around him and held tightly as she watched the sea life weave through the plants in the garden, the sunlight from Aquitar's sun somehow making it through the kilometres of water to nourish the life below.

oooooo

Having finally found the location of his best friend, Zhane shook his head and started climbing. He cursed silently as he tried to find decent handholds on the hull of the MegaWinger. "You do know how crazy you are to up there?" he called out.

Andros gazed down from where he sat on top of the ship. "If I'm crazy, what does that make you?"

"Don't ask," replied Zhane as he managed the last of the climb and sat down beside him. He followed the red ranger's gaze to the Aquitian engineers milling around in the hanger far below. "You're not still blaming yourself for what happened to Zordon, are you?" he asked.

Andros shrugged. "What if I am?"

"You know I have the feeling we've had this conversation before."

"Maybe I didn't have any alternative at the time, but what about before?" Andros demanded angrily. "Shouldn't I have been able to find Zordon before we were put in that situation?"

Zhane put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I was there. We tried our best. It's a large galaxy and we only had a short amount of time to search. Besides I'd like to see you come up with a better way of killing off all those evil villains that quickly.

Andros sighed. "Why are you always right?'

"I'm only right when you're wrong," replied Zhane grinning.

"That's what makes us such a great team. I don't know what I would have become if you hadn't survived. I've lost so much…"

"You got it back, just like we'll get our friends back," Zhane insisted. "Then you and Ashley will get married, have lots of kids and you'll be after me all the time to baby-sit."

Andros laughed. "You've got it all planned out?"

"Of course!"

The red ranger shook his head. "I don't know. Ashley and I… It hasn't been going that well recently."

"But you love her?

"Yes, and I would give anything to have her here now," Andros replied wistfully.

"You've both been busy trying to figure out your own lives. It's hard to maintain a relationship at the same time."

"Is that what's up with you and Karone?" questioned Andros giving his friend a sidelong glance pleased to see the silver ranger wince. "You know if you don't stop dancing around my sister like that, I might have to beat the crap out of you."

"I thought you were going to beat the crap out of me if started dating her."

"Well, yes that too."

They laughed, before growing sober once more.

Zhane shook his head. "Life sure hasn't made it easy for us"

"No bed of roses," Andros agreed.

"Or a bed of roses with lots of manure."

Next:
Chapter 17: Phantoms and Shadows
The rangers find themselves once more entangled in darkness.